Dáil debates
Thursday, 20 October 2016
Other Questions
Regional Development Initiatives
3:20 pm
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the extent to which she has identified a deficiency in services in urban and rural areas throughout the country with particular reference to the need to ensure the availability of modern technology, banking, post offices, schools and other services; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31141/16]
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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The next question is in the name of this Deputy, who, unfortunately, cannot raise any supplementaries. The Deputy would be happy, unless somebody else wants to raise a question on it, to take a reply.
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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This is new politics at its best.
A Programme for a Partnership Government identifies a range of local services which are important to the sustainability of rural areas in particular. The programme contains a series of commitments relating to the protection of these services, including the provision of next-generation broadband coverage, addressing the renewal of the post office network, supporting local jobseekers and the provision of other services in areas such as education, health and security. These services fall under the remit of a number of Departments and agencies.
From my own perspective, I am progressing the programme for Government commitment to address the renewal of the post office network. I have established a post office hub working group which is considering potential models under which the post offices could offer additional services, especially in rural areas. My officials are also examining the potential for the post offices to deliver services, such as motor tax payments and a basic payment account.
The Minister, Deputy Humphreys, has established a national taskforce on mobile phone and broadband access with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, to identify practical measures which can be taken in the short term to improve broadband and mobile phone reception in rural areas. Two regional broadband action groups, involving all of the local authorities in the country, have also been established to accelerate the roll-out of the broadband network and ensure that there are no local barriers to the deployment when contracts under the national broadband plan are awarded in 2017.
My Department is currently developing an action plan for rural development which will act as an overarching structure for the co-ordination and implementation of initiatives across Government which have the potential to benefit rural Ireland. The implementation of these initiatives will contribute significantly to the protection and enhancement of local services and will help generate increased economic activity in rural Ireland. The action plan will be published by the end of the year.
3:30 pm
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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I will do my best to see if I can represent the Acting Chairman here. With regard to broadband, I have major concerns with the Government's broadband plan. We know from conversations we have had with the Minister previously that it is likely the due date for broadband right across the State will be broken. There is no Government confirmation that this due date will be achieved. In five or six years time, there will still be sectors of Irish society and enterprise that will be cut off from what is the road network of modern society. We also know there is a danger because of the fact that there are two contracts on the island, that we could have one contract with a certain speed and capacity level and another contract with a different speed and content level. That means villages a distance of five or six miles apart could be operating on two different levels.
Regarding the post office sector, I spoke to a postmaster recently, based in a medium-sized town which is by no means a village, and he was of the view that transactions were collapsing within post offices around the country, especially as a result of fewer people drawing social welfare. That is obviously a good thing, but the essential point is that his wages are derived on the basis of transactions and those transactions were not there for him. Also, the contracts between the State and post offices were not facilitating viability. Is it the Government's plan to close further post offices? My understanding is that a number of post offices will close in the future.
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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With regard to broadband, as the Deputy is aware, our Department is dealing with the local authorities to make sure that when the contracts are awarded, there will be no hold-ups and the local authorities will have their ground work done. When people are appointed to deal with the contracts, we will be there and the local authorities will deal with the land issues and any other issues that arise. The Minister, Deputy Naughten's Department will deal with the licences and we will do our bit. The local authorities have all been written to and they have all responded. What we need to do now is to make sure that we can roll this out as quickly as possible.
Regarding rural post offices, we have a group that I am chairing and another group, the Post Office Network Business Development Group, that Bobby Kerr is chairing. He is examining ways and means to see what we can do to give new services to post offices. I am engaged with the Irish postmasters association in examining ways and means to see what we can do to save as many post offices as possible. The Deputy is correct that there a number of categories of post offices, including big post offices, small post offices and rural post offices. I am working with those people to explore, for example, the possibility of having mobile post offices, community post offices and a combination of both to try to keep a service in an area. Bobby Kerr intends to have his group's report compiled in the next number of weeks. I will have my report compiled and we will then go to Government to see what we can do to support and assist rural post offices to the best of our ability.
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister of State studiously avoided answering my question about the Government's plan to close further post offices in the next number of years. It does plan to close a number of post offices in rural areas in the next number of years.
Unfortunately, it is now too late to transfer the motor tax service to the post offices. If people were to go to a county council office to pay their motor tax, they would probably see weeds growing along the ground. Most people are dealing with their motor tax online. The transfer of driver licence renewal business to the post offices would have provided an opportunity to give viability back to post offices. That business was given to a private company, as such.
I understand that Bobby Kerr's report has been published. What elements of it have been implemented to date? The two questions to which I would love answers are how many offices will the Minister close in the future and what elements of that report have been implemented?
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I want to make it clear to the Deputy that I will not be closing any post offices. I do not have the authority or the power-----
Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)
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The Government does.
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Government does not have it either. An Post runs the postal services. With regard to a number of post offices, people have given notice that they no longer want to be postmasters. There is nothing we can do about it if there are no people available to take up that service. An Post will make those decisions. There is a consultation process which will involve it determining if a post office is viable, but somebody has to take on the business of that post office.
We are doing the direct opposite to what the Deputy has said. We are trying to do something to save post offices by giving them new services, such as banking, to help bring them into the modern era and allow them to compete with the banks and the credit unions. We will try to save as many post offices as possible but I want to put on the record that I will not be closing any post office. That is not a decision for me or the Government. That will be a matter for An Post and the postmasters or postmistresses if they believe they are not in a position to continue on in their business. We are doing everything in our power to try to save post offices. I intend to bring a package to Government between now and the end of the year with the intention of trying to save as many post offices as possible, but not every post office is viable. Many people complain about the closure of post offices. I have attended public meetings where people said they do want closures of post offices, but they are the very people who do not use their local post office. If people want them, they will have to use them. If they want to keep them, they will have to support their local post offices. I want as many post offices as possible to be maintained and retained in rural Ireland.
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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We will proceed to Question No. 8 in the name of Deputy Mick Barry.
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Deputy Boyd Barrett would not know very much about rural post offices.
Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Excuse me, we have little village post offices.
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy was too privileged, so he would not know about them.
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I call Deputy Mick Barry.
Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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We have a little village post office in Dún Laoghaire as well.
Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy would not know anything about rural Ireland.
Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Go away out of that. The Minister of State is a spoofer.
Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Is Deputy Boyd Barrett giving way to his colleague?